The Logic of Grace Text: Judges 13:21-23
Introduction: Awe and Argument
The book of Judges is a grim and bloody record of Israel's downward spiral. The refrain of the book is that "everyone did what was right in his own eyes," which is the biblical definition of anarchy. Israel is caught in a rinse cycle of sin: they would do evil, God would deliver them into the hands of their enemies, they would cry out for deliverance, God would raise up a judge, and for a short time, there would be peace. And then, like a dog to its vomit, they would return to their sin, and the cycle would begin again, each time getting worse.
It is in this dark and chaotic period, under the thumb of the Philistines, that God decides to act. And as He so often does, He acts in a way that confounds the wise. He does not begin with a political movement or a military strategy. He begins with a barren woman. He begins with a promise. He begins with an impossible birth, foreshadowing a greater birth to come. An angel of Yahweh, a messenger of the Lord, appears to the wife of a man named Manoah and promises a son who will begin to deliver Israel.
Our text for this morning picks up right at the climax of this encounter. Manoah and his wife have just offered a sacrifice, and this angel, this messenger, has done something wonderful. He ascended to heaven in the flame of their offering. The curtain has been pulled back. They were not just talking to a prophet or a man of God. The penny has dropped, and with it comes a wave of terror. They have seen something of the unmediated holiness of God, and they know the ancient rule: no man shall see God and live. This is the crisis point. And in this crisis, we see two very different reactions, one of terror-stricken, but flawed, theology, and the other of clear-headed, covenantal logic. This passage is a master class in how to reason from God's grace.
The Text
Now the angel of Yahweh did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Yahweh.
So Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, for we have seen God.”
But his wife said to him, “If Yahweh had desired to put us to death, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”
(Judges 13:21-23 LSB)
The Realization and the Reaction (v. 21-22)
We begin with the moment of dawning comprehension and the fear that follows.
"Now the angel of Yahweh did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Yahweh. So Manoah said to his wife, 'We will surely die, for we have seen God.'" (Judges 13:21-22)
The disappearance of the angel in the flame of the altar was the final confirmation. This was no ordinary messenger. The text says Manoah "knew that he was the angel of Yahweh." Now, we must be precise here. Throughout the Old Testament, the "Angel of Yahweh" is a very particular figure. This is not just any angel. This figure speaks as God, accepts worship meant for God, and is identified as God. When Hagar meets the Angel of Yahweh, she says, "You are the God who sees." When this Angel appears to Gideon just a few chapters earlier, Gideon builds an altar to Yahweh. And here, Manoah's conclusion is not, "We have seen an angel," but rather, "We have seen God."
This is what theologians call a Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. Before He took on flesh in the womb of Mary, the eternal Son was active in the history of His people. He is the one who wrestled with Jacob, who was in the fiery furnace with the three young men, and who met with Manoah and his wife. He is the visible Yahweh, the one who reveals the Father.
Manoah's reaction is theologically correct, in one sense. He knows his Old Testament. He knows that God told Moses, "You cannot see My face, for no man shall see Me and live" (Exodus 33:20). He knows what Isaiah would later cry out in the temple: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips... For my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts!" (Isaiah 6:5). The unmediated, unveiled holiness of God is a consuming fire. For a sinful man to stand in that presence is to be annihilated. Manoah's fear is a proper fear. It is a recognition of the infinite gulf between a holy God and a sinful man. This is not a quaint superstition; it is the beginning of wisdom.
But his conclusion is flawed. He says, "We will surely die." He has a right doctrine of God's holiness but a deficient doctrine of God's grace. He has understood the threat of the law but has not yet grasped the logic of the promise. His theology is all thunder from Sinai and no whisper from the altar. He sees the fire of God's holiness but misses the meaning of the sacrifice that just went up in it.
The Better Theology (v. 23)
And this is where his wife, who remains unnamed in the story, steps forward with one of the most brilliant pieces of theological reasoning in all of Scripture.
"But his wife said to him, 'If Yahweh had desired to put us to death, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.'" (Judges 13:23 LSB)
Notice the structure of her argument. It is a masterpiece of covenantal logic. She does not contradict Manoah's premise that they have seen God. She does not downplay the holiness of God. She accepts all of that. But she reasons from God's recent actions to His present intentions. She presents three solid pieces of evidence, three pillars of assurance.
First, she points to the accepted sacrifice. "He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands." The Angel of Yahweh had instructed them to offer it, and He had received it, signified by the supernatural fire and His ascension within it. What is the purpose of a sacrifice? It is an atonement. It is a substitute. It is a symbol of wrath being satisfied and fellowship being restored. For God to accept their sacrifice and then kill them would be a flat contradiction. It would be like a judge accepting payment for a fine and then throwing the man in jail anyway. It would make God unjust. She is reasoning from the character of God as revealed in the sacrificial system. An accepted sacrifice means an accepted worshipper.
Second, she points to the revelation they had received. "Nor would He have shown us all these things." God had pulled back the veil. He had revealed His plan, His purpose, His glory in the flame. Why would God go to the trouble of revealing Himself, of showing them "wonderful things," only to obliterate them? Divine revelation is for the purpose of life and fellowship, not destruction. To reveal and then to destroy would be utterly pointless. It would make God arbitrary and capricious.
Third, she points to the promise they had been given. "Nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time." What had they heard? They had heard the promise of a son. A son who would be a Nazirite from the womb. A son who would begin to deliver Israel. This was a long-term promise. It required them to be alive to conceive, to birth, and to raise this child. For God to give them a promise for the future and then kill them in the present would be to make God a liar. It would make His word null and void.
Do you see her logic? She is arguing from grace. Manoah is arguing from law. Manoah sees God's holiness and concludes, "We must die." His wife sees God's actions, His acceptance, His revelation, His promise, and concludes, "We must live." She understood that God's prior commitments dictate His present dispositions. God does not save and accept you one minute only to damn and reject you the next. He is not fickle. His grace is not a game of cosmic roulette. Her theology was rooted in the finished work of the sacrifice and the sure promise of God's word. And because of that, her head was clear when her husband's was clouded with fear.
The Logic of Grace for Us
This is not just a historical account of a faithful woman correcting her husband's theology. This is a paradigm for all Christian assurance. We are all Manoah at times, are we not? We see the holiness of God, we are rightly convicted of our sin, and our first thought is, "Woe is me! I will surely die. God could never accept me." We look at our own performance, our own sinfulness, our own weakness, and we despair.
And at that moment, we must learn to preach to ourselves the logic of Manoah's wife. We must learn to argue from God's grace in Jesus Christ. When Satan, the accuser of the brethren, comes to you and points out your sin, when he holds up the holy law of God and shows you how far you have fallen short, you must not deny the charge. You must agree with him. Yes, the law condemns me. Yes, in myself, I deserve death. But then you must pivot, just as she did, and point to the objective work of God in Christ.
First, you point to the accepted sacrifice. Has God not accepted a sacrifice for you? Yes, He has. He has accepted the once-for-all sacrifice of His own Son on the cross. Jesus Christ, the true Angel of Yahweh, offered Himself up. And God showed He accepted that sacrifice by raising Him from the dead. If God has accepted Christ's death in your place, on what grounds could He then condemn you? To do so would be unjust. It would be demanding a double payment for the same debt. Your assurance does not rest on the quality of your obedience, but on the finality of His sacrifice.
Second, you point to the revelation you have received. Has God not shown you "all these things"? Yes, He has. In His Word, He has revealed the mystery of the gospel. He has shone in your heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). He has opened your eyes to see your sin and your Savior. Why would He do all of that, only to cast you away? It would be a nonsensical waste of grace. The God who opens blind eyes does not do so for sport, but for salvation.
And third, you point to the promises you have been given. Has God not let you hear "things like this"? Yes, He has. He has promised, "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6). He has promised, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out" (John 6:37). He has promised you adoption, sanctification, and glorification. For God to give you these unbreakable promises and then break them would make Him a liar. And our God cannot lie.
This is the logic of grace. It is not based on our feelings, which are fickle. It is not based on our performance, which is faulty. It is based on the objective, historical, finished work of God in Jesus Christ. It is based on His accepted sacrifice, His gracious revelation, and His unbreakable promises. This is how you fight for assurance. You take your eyes off yourself and you reason from what God has already done. If He gave His Son for you when you were His enemy, will He now abandon you when you are His child? If He accepted the ultimate sacrifice, will He now quibble over your daily failures? God forbid. Let us, then, learn the theology of Manoah's wife and live in the liberty that Christ has purchased for us.